A slip to this house at Te Ngaere Bay was one of the highlights of a wet October in Northland.
Photo / Peter de Graaf
A slip to this house at Te Ngaere Bay was one of the highlights of a wet October in Northland.
Photo / Peter de Graaf
The chances of water restrictions in Whangārei this summer are very low given well above normal rainfall in the last few weeks that has resulted in the dams running at full capacity.
Although water levels in Kaipara and the Far North are also healthy at present, territorial authorities there cannotsay whether water restrictions will be needed in the drier months.
The Niwa climate summary for October shows large parts of Northland had more than three times the normal rainfall during the month, in particular Kaikohe and Kerikeri that experienced their wettest October on record.
Kerikeri had 424mm or 324 per cent of its normal rain, which was the highest since records began in 1935, while a similar trend was seen in Kaikohe where 301mm fell in October. Dargaville had 202mm— the third highest since 1943.
The Whau Valley Dam and Wilsons Dam in Whangārei are running at 100 per cent — up on normal levels at this time of the year.
Whangārei, like other parts of Northland, have had water restrictions over some recent summers, with the region suffering six droughts since 2009.
Whangārei District Council water services manager Andrew Venmore said given the recent persistent rain, chances of water restrictions in summer were "very low".
"We are looking pretty good for summer but we'll have problems in autumn if it's really dry in summer. The average rainfall at Whau Valley dam in October is 111mm. This year, we've had 260mm, which was fourth highest on record."
Venmore said the average dam level at Whau Valley that supplies the bulk of water in Whangārei was 94 per cent in November and 91 per cent in December.
The dam level dropped to 75 per cent in January and 60 per cent in February last year due to the drought in 2019 heading into 2020.
"What's been good this year is the amount of rain that fell in September and October that allowed water levels in streams and aquifers to increase," Venmore said.
Niwa said the wettest October on record was influenced by a persistently wet Labour weekend, as well as thunderstorms and localised heavy rainfall events earlier in the month, in Northland.
Kerikeri also had the extreme one-day rainfall of 137mm on October 23. It was the third highest for the month since records there began in 1945.
Apart from rain, Kaikohe recorded the highest October daily maximum temperature of 23.2C since 1975.
Record or near-record mean air temperatures were recorded in Cape Reinga (15.2C) and Kerikeri (15.5C).
Cape Reinga recorded its equal highest mean minimum air temperature of 12.9C, Kaitaia 12.4C, Kerikeri 11.2C and Dargaville 11.8C which was the fourth highest on record.
Daily minimum air temperatures were 15.5C in Cape Reinga on October 27 - its second highest since records began there in 1971, and 2.9C in Whangārei on October 16, its fourth-lowest October temperature since 1967.
Whau Valley Dam is running at full capacity which puts less pressure on Whangārei's water supplies heading into summer.
Photo / Michael Cunningham
Water catchments in Kaipara are also running well and there are presently no restrictions in place.
A Kaipara District Council spokesman said it was difficult to say at this stage whether current rainfall would in any way impact on future restrictions.
Current water levels in the Far North District are above readings at this time of the year.
Meetings of the Far North District Council's Water Shortage Management Committee will re-start this week to discuss the current water supply situation and to analyse the latest weather forecast data provided by Niwa and MetService for the summer ahead.
In most of the Kaipara areas, our water comes from rivers or streams, and our restrictions are dictated by water levels, which can change. At this stage we can't say if the current rainfall has in any way impacted future restrictions.
Another highlight from the month saw heavy rain on October 7 that lead to a slip at Te Ngaere Bay, which affected a home, and left it potentially unsafe.
Recent rain should also see Northland farmers having a good spring and summer, particularly around grass growth.
Northland is in for a warmer than normal November-January period, but with a La Niña weather pattern there's also the risk of cyclones hitting the region.
Niwa's climate summary for November to January is predicting that Northland has a 65 per cent chance of having above-average temperatures, with rainfall likely to be near or below average.
